Aliko fiddles with the coffee pot, his brow furrowed as he presses buttons and tries to figure out how to make it work. I smile to myself as he does his thing, letting him figure it out on his own. If he needs my help, he will ask.
He doesn’t. A minute later, the coffee starts to brew. It probably won’t be the best coffee, but he did it all by himself.
We eat breakfast together like we have countless times before, only this time, there’s tension. It’s new. It’s never been like this before. We eat in silence. Not entirely awkward, but not comfortable either.
When we’re done, Aliko cleans up while I finish my coffee at the table. He sits back down and picks up his cup to sip from. I’m not sure what to say, but there are a million things I want to say. None of it feels right though.
Why did you leave? Why did your father show up? Why did you stay for so long? What made you decide to come back?
That’s only the beginning of it. Never mind all the other stuff we have to work out. I mean, he just left me, and though I’m glad he’s back, I can’t forget it.
“Does anyone else know you’re back?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “I only came to you.”
That has my chest warming a little. He came to me. All he cared about was me.
“You should let them know.”
“Later.” He puts his mug down, turning to face me more. “How can I fix this?”
“Well, everyone just assumed you went back to the ocean, so—”
“I mean us, Leif.”
“Oh,” I say, my voice small. I put my mug down and sit back in my chair.
“Can I… fix this?” he asks carefully.
I take a breath before meeting his gaze. “We can fix this, yes. We need to talk about a lot of things. It’ll take time, but nothing has changed for me. I still want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you too,” he says quickly. “It’s all I want. I’m so angry for leaving, and I don’t know why I did.”
“Yeah, you said that.” I try not to sound bitter, but I can’t help it.
I am.
“My father showed up and I just… cowered. I went with him, even though I didn’t want to. He’s the leader of our colony, and maybe I stayed because I felt like that was my life, and what I was born to do. Then I was worried he’d tell everyone and I’d be killed. My body felt right, but my head…” He shakes it. “It’s never felt right under the ocean.”
“What made you come back?”
“My father took my amulet. I’d been looking for it. And my mother… she led me to it.”
“I thought they didn’t want this for you?”
“They didn’t. But something must have changed. When I came up to land, my father was there again. I’m still very confused by our conversation, so I don’t want to get into it, but basically he told me to have a good life—and not in the worst way.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. It’s hard to believe.”
“It’s hard to believe you’re here,” I say. Aliko frowns. I offer my hand. “We can fix this,” I say firmly. “I promise you, we can. Everything will be okay.”
The corner of his lips twitch, and when I smile, he does too.
I really do think everything is going to be okay.
Chapter Thirty-Three
